


The Past Called- It's Over Now

by Lunaraen



Category: MCSM, Minecraft Story Mode
Genre: Character Development, Developing Friendships, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), People Change People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 14:11:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17081783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunaraen/pseuds/Lunaraen
Summary: It's a little too easy for Lukas to assume everything's just as he left it, for better or worse, that what he has has wrapped and stored away in the deepest corners of his mind hasn't changed a bit. It's a little too easy to assume that what he's left behind is just as he would expect it to be, and just as easy to leave there.But now he's dreaming about Aiden, fending off weird questions from within his own mind, and it's not until he's staring down a villager girl that he realizes Aiden's life has moved on without him, just as Lukas's did without Aiden.





	The Past Called- It's Over Now

**Author's Note:**

> Angie belongs to [Warning-Heckmouth](http://warning-heckmouth.tumblr.com/)

"Don't you miss me?"

_Like a canker sore. Go away._

"Don't you still love me?"

_Of course I do; you're my best friend. Go away._

"Don't I mean anything to you?"

_You mean everything and nothing and you hurt me. Go away._

It's odd, at first.

After the first two weeks, when more dreams have Aiden than not, when Lukas remembers each of them distinctly while anything else blurs, it's creepy.

After the first month, he's more used to it. They've dealt with weirder.

 _He's_ dealt with weirder, and while it might be the first time his dreams have been so recurrent, they could be worse. Lukas prefers it to the week of nightmares he had about dying after they got back, about being crushed alive over and over.

Even when they get dark, cruel and cold.

He's no stranger to dreams of that sort, been hurt enough and done enough damage in more than enough battles to be more realistic than he'd like.

They aren't... _nightmares_ , exactly. Bad dreams, bloody ones, the sort of thing to leave him shaking and trying not to jump at shadows the next morning, but not nightmares.

(Of course they're nightmares. He hates that he could ever see them as anything else, that there's ever been any sort of vindictive thrill, some feeling beyond disgust and horror to make the cracking of bones and the throbbing of his knuckles feel remotely satisfying.)

They haven't taken that sort of turn in a while.

(For the best, really.

He isn't sure how many more nights he was going to be able to stand it, if the body he was mangling turned into his own ever again, his fingers blood slicked and curled into light blond hair, hair slicked back with the same hair gel as Aiden's (what he used to have at least, because Lukas doubts they have the same kind in Sky City's world), his face fine while the mirror image that looked back tried to breathe through a bubbling split lip and couldn't even see through swollen, blackened eyes.

Gods, he's not sure what that says about him.

He's a writer. _Of course_ he knows what that says about him, but the self-loathing's bad enough when he's awake and able to busy himself. Dreams have no right making him face that.

And, well, they don't have any right making him face Aiden, but at least now nobody gets hurt. Not physically.)

But they are incessant, even when they're not emotionally twisting, even when they're almost pleasant. Sometimes they're old conversations, bits of memories snipped and hashed together, and he's more likely to end up kissing Aiden than punching him in his dreams. It always comes back to the same questions, though, the same half-longing half-lighthearted tone.

"Don't you ever think about me?" They're almost never bitter accusations, the way they sometimes were at the start, but Lukas would almost prefer that.

 _How could I not? You've been in my dreams for_ months.

Maybe it's some weird, demented gut feeling, a sense so deep that something's wrong, or just needs his attention, that it's taken straight to plaguing his dreams and leaving him thinking during the day, rather than the other way around.

Of course, Aiden's always needed his attention. Whether he was looking for approval for jokes that were lame to the point of being good or for the harsher things he did to himself and others, the bullying and the meticulous diet and wardrobe, Aiden always seemed to be looking for it somehow. There was a time Lukas lived off his attention too.

He mentions it to Jesse, if only because it's slightly better than talking about it with Ivor. Ivor means well and has good solutions, but Lukas ultimately needs to talk to someone who _doesn't_ really know what he's going through, who hasn't had friends turn on them the way he or Ivor has.

Jesse just means well and gives good advice.

It also helps that Jesse's been pushing him to go visit the others since the first time Lukas turned down the offer to visit Sky City's world, and that Lukas may or may not be looking for another push.

Well, Jesse delivers, in that gently-kind and gently-stubborn way. It probably helps that Lukas is as casual about it as he can be, not so much mentioning the months of weird dreams in favor of talking about how he's been thinking a lot about his old friends and how he does and doesn't want to see them ever again.

"Milo and Isa still don't know what they did to chase you off so bad." Jesse’s chuckle is soft, gaze just as gentle but more chiding.

"It's not their fault and they know it. Missing out on their bickering is just a bonus."

"They've gotten better.” Lukas doesn’t doubt it, if only because it was necessary for their people and because otherwise the city would be in ruins. At the same time, Jesse’s poorly held off wince is a little concerning. “You could always just check in with them, if you don't want to talk to the O- others. Milo and Isa really do like you."

"Gods know why. You'd figure they'd hate me for the cold-shoulder treatment."

Small price to pay, he'd figured, for never having to see Aiden, Maya, or Gill again, and now he's planning on going back after years of almost total silence to do just that.

Funny.

Jesse shoves his shoulder and hands over a mug of hot chocolate, looking almost more marshmallow than drink, and that’s the end of that, the conversation taking more enjoyable turns.

Jesse has a point, but Jesse always does.

Some people (Petra) react to change by running away, hurt and bitter. Lukas guesses that’s what he did too, in a way, as stable as he might be in his cabin while his friends run cities and go on cool adventures. He might be handling the Order slowly drifting away alright, but he hasn’t seen Aiden once since they all left Sky City and entered the Portal Network.

After that disaster of an adventure wrapped up, though, there hasn’t been much else, not as things grow quieter and Lukas focuses more on his books. Even Jesse’s finally been settling into the role of mayor, whatever the position’s officially called, finally started looking for an intern to help with paperwork and management. It’s good. They all deserve that kind of rest, Jesse especially.

Maybe it’s time to take care of the harsher adventures, the more mundane ones that are closer to the heart.

* * *

 

Maybe it’s easier to feel that way when he’s not standing on Aiden’s doorstep.

Milo and Isa are more than kind in welcoming him, promising him a tour of the city for tomorrow that Reginald seems more than pleased to help with, but granting him his wanderings for tonight, and Lukas really doesn’t know how or what Milo feels about Aiden, but he’s nice enough to give Lukas his address anyway.

Lukas hasn’t even heard of being able to send somebody dreams, of being able to target one person and lure them to their doom with incessant questions.

It’s much more likely that Aiden isn’t at fault for what Lukas does or doesn’t dream, and Lukas reminds himself as he knocks to not hold that against him (or ask ridiculous questions about why Aiden’s been bugging him for months).

Any anxiety about whether or not this is a trap, and what to say or do if it is or isn't, fades as it's replaced by a much more confused brand of anxious feelings. Aiden's not the one standing in the doorway.

It's a girl, eyes widening for just a moment, and while Lukas has always sucked at guessing ages, she's probably no older than ten, not quite coming up to his shoulder.

The following silence doubles the confused anxiety.

Usually there's excitement, or a ton of questions, or usually some rushed request for an autograph, or all three, because he might not be in charge of a city but he's still part of the Order and a famous author.

She almost looks scared, clutching the side of the door tightly and almost shrinking behind it.

Hello, reality check.

He's gotten a little too used to kids not speaking because they're either too shy to speak or entirely awe-struck, a little too used to kids knowing what he looks like because most of the ones he meets live in Beacontown. It's entirely possible she might just not like having a strange person show up at her door, or just isn't a fan.

Before he can apologize, tell her he must have the wrong house, she steps back, not closing the door but calling out over her shoulder.

"Dad? I- I think it's for you."

Dad?

Lukas might be really wondering if he has the right house now, wondering whose evening he's interrupted and whose kid is frightened of him, but he doesn't wonder long.

Her dad opens the door a bit more than she did as he comes to stand in the doorway, and he slouches, closer to eye-level with Lukas than he should be, scruffy, short mess of a beard matching hair that's as scruffy but long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail, which keeps it out of his face while highlighting the dark circles under his eyes, his clothes more plain than his daughter's, and Lukas almost has an automatic apology ready for _this_ stranger, but being nearly at eye level means he just gets a better look at light green eyes that watch him like they definitely know each other.

And they should.

Lukas would have trouble forgetting eyes like that even if he hadn't been seeing them almost every other night.

They stare like that, for a moment or two, neither of them liking awkward silences and both of them horribly impatient when it comes to disrupting them. Lukas matches Aiden in temper, but Aiden matches him in poor patience and the will to do something about it.

Aiden breaks the silence first, and it's so odd to hear his voice outside Lukas's own dreams.

It's not as bitter or mocking as it was the last time Lukas really heard it, not as angry or heated, tone softer in a way that's more familiar and more the friend he used to have.

But it's dry, because Aiden's voice has always been that way, and it's more tired than Lukas is used to.

"Angie, why don't you get back to the table and finish up your homework? I'll join you in a sec." His smile is brief, warm and awkwardly juxtaposed by how stiff the rest of Aiden's body is.

Angie nods, though, maybe just as unhappy with awkward silences, and takes just a moment to look back up at Lukas even as she turns from the doorway.

There's undeniably villager blood in her somewhere, the freckles as attention grabbing as the unibrow (and doesn’t _that_ remind Lukas of another part-villager Aiden used to harass), but the mess of curly brown hair is as distinct, and Lukas can't help but glance between her and Aiden before she ducks behind the door. The eyes are a warm brown, and definitely not Aiden's brighter green ones, but he guesses he can see the resemblance.

The age doesn’t seem quite right, but Lukas already knew he probably wasn’t spot on with that.

"Cute kid."

Lukas never thought Aiden would be the type to have kids, his temperament too close to his parents' own.

(The short-lived poisonous thought dies quickly.

Lukas might have a lot to get past when it comes to Aiden, a lot of pain he's not going to let go so easily, but he's only heard good things about Aiden's recovery, about the work he's done here. Lukas isn't cruel enough to think so low of him to ask if he's beating or neglecting his kid, to insult Aiden, or anyone, that way with no evidence or reason to suspect anything.

Especially not after listening to years of Aiden swearing he'd never be his folks.)

"She's mine." There's a familiar bite to the words, and Lukas finds it a lot easier to see Aiden in this person, beneath the scruffier hair and shabbier clothes. Lukas raises an eyebrow, straightening up before he realizes his back is tensing, and while he's not entirely surprised someone would marry Aiden after everything, the possessive tone is unneeded. He's not going to take Aiden's kid, and if it's an explanation, it's a poor one. She already called him dad. Even with Lukas pulling himself to his tallest, Aiden's still a good head taller than him, and Aiden doesn't quite slouch back down to be so close to eye level even as the tension leaves his body and his gaze finds the ground. "We found her, a couple years ago, in the woods. Her village was burned down in a blaze attack."

Lukas thinks it might explain the bite, just a little more, swallowing as his shoulders slump and as he reminds himself that neither of them are looking for a fight.

Blazes don't spawn outside the nether. Not in their world, and not even here. Whenever Milo and Isa bring it up, it's always in reference to the wreckage of Sky City and what spawned from the spawn eggs used there.

Her parents, her entire community from the sounds of it, died because of Aiden, however indirectly.

"We" means he didn't find her alone, and while maybe he means Maya and Gill found her with him, it still doesn't add up. If she has homework, she's been going to school, and if she's willing to call him dad, this can't be that new a development, which means the “couple of years” is likely truthful. He's not trying to hide her, and Isa seems the type to at least be very interested in villages.

"They let you keep her?"

It's the wrong question, a little too incredulous when Aiden seems to have been doing an alright job and unduly giving legitimate reason to Aiden's overprotective tone and stance, but it's what he asks.

A better question, though not for Aiden, is how much Jesse knew about this and for how long without telling Lukas.

Because Jesse definitely knew about this.

The whole "having a kid" thing seems like something that would come up once or twice if Jesse kept asking about Aiden's progress.

"Yeah. My responsibility- besides, it's not like anybody else knew the language. And I wouldn’t give her up for anything." It's almost a little laughable, that the language part is what cinched it. Aiden's always been half-decent at best when it came to talking with villagers, just enough to trade and usually letting Lukas handle bigger conversations, but some, however broken, had to have been better than none. "What- what are you doing here, Lukas?"

Gods he sounds tired. Maybe sending a letter ahead of time wouldn’t have been such a bad idea.

"I thought I'd pay Milo and Isa a visit." And as much as he’s here to see Aiden, almost manically driven by months of questions, and as much as he’s here to see Maya and Gill, he means that. He really does want to make up the years of missed visits, but one little trip to check in on one of his friends hopefully won’t make it seem too much like an excuse. "Figured I should probably stop by and say hello while I was here."

Aiden looks like he has no idea how to take that.

(It’s alright; neither does Lukas.)

He responds better than Lukas would, probably, glancing over his shoulder once before crossing one arm over his middle to grab his other arm, smile weak but a smile. His voice is still gentle, but it’s more uncertain that Lukas is used to hearing Aiden, not quite stuttering but still tired and still a little stilted.

"...I've got some bad coffee, if you want it. Better than water, and with how late it's getting, I can guarantee it'll be warmer inside no matter what you have."

And if that isn’t better than just about anything Lukas expected.

"Alright. Guess I'll take you up on that." The good news is that, if nothing else, Lukas knows he and Aiden are both that much less likely to lose their temper if there’s going to be a kid around, especially Aiden’s. Lukas lets his smile relax into something more genuine. "...you steal the beard from Gill?"

Aiden snorts, looking comfortably surprised by the joke with a smile that matches much better. (It’s the most comfortable he’s looked at Lukas yet.)

"Like his beard ever looked this bad." He's not wrong; as much as they teased Gill for it when he was just starting to grow one, the awkward phase didn't last long. Aiden looks ready to lob back a joke-barb of his own, briefly looking all of Lukas up and down, and Lukas expects something that'll get under his skin. It's always been Aiden's strong suit, and he's known Lukas too long to not know just what to say to hurt him. "Can't a hero like you afford a better jacket?"

But the question is lighthearted, almost self-deprecating in nature due to how much his current jacket resembles the Ocelot one, and it's not something Lukas minds at all.

"Oh, you don't get to talk to me about that. What, no good tailors?"

And that joke isn't a very good one in turn, Lukas realizes too late as his tongue feels like ink, because while that would maybe work in most cases, with people able to buy good clothes and choosing fashionably questionable options instead, Aiden's a single parent in a city where most people have good reason to at least distrust him.

He's sure Isa and Milo are funding for Angie's care in some way, if only to ensure she's not hurt by any bias towards her dad, but last he heard, Aiden’s working as a miner, something that doesn't seem to have changed, judging from the smudged soot on his pants.

That kind of income doesn't allow as many options as being a best-selling author/hero does, and Aiden's always cared about his appearance as much as Lukas, if not more.

It would probably take something like financial worries to keep Aiden from hair gel.

Aiden just shrugs though, barely pausing before he huffs.

"Eh, depends on where you look. They're getting a better hang of it, but it's not like some of them could get much worse." He nudges the door open more with his shoulder, stepping back and gesturing Lukas in with a hand, more warm air already escaping out into the night and the light looking as warm against the cooling ground and dying evening light. "Come on in."


End file.
